Tempe Gets Religion (Sort of)
by pasha54
Summary: Brennan's father reminds her that Brennan's mother was actually Jewish, and therefore that technically, Brennan is Jewish too. Although she still considers herself a staunch Atheist, Brennan experiences an almost primal need to explore her forgotten heritage.
1. Tempe and the Temple

Tempe and the Temple*

Tempe remembered her father saying: " remember your mother saying she is Jewish?" That means that technically, under Jewish law, you are Jewish too." "I'm an Atheist, remember Dad"? "Aw sweetheart, Judaism is more than a religion; it's a culture. Half the people attending liberal1 services during Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement) are Agnostics at best (or worst)." "Well" quoth Tempe, "Agnosticism is a perfectly respectable intellectual position. If God exists, we have no about His (or Her or It's) position in our lives, or anything else about God."

It was near the Jewish Festival of Passover (the Festival of Freedom), during the time of Tempe's first pregnancy, that she found herself taking a walk. (She just didn't have the energy for a run that particular day, and Booth had a meeting so he didn't drag her to the Diner.) To her great surprise, given her prior tendency to have a plan and follow it, she found her feet taking her in the direction of Beit Tikvah23 (Hebrew for House of Hope), a liberal synagogue close to the Jeffersonian. Possibly, she was feeling a need to honor the memory of her mother, and possibly, the prospect of having a child awoke long forgotten memories from childhood in her. Who knows? At first she just admired the architecture of the building, which had been designed by a well-known architect. Then she went inside and introduced herself to the synagogue secretary, Alma Bloomberg, a sweet-faced elderly lady,as someone who was interested in experiencing more about her Jewish identity (that she had only so far read about). Alma said "come in dear, we always welcome Jews who want to explore their heritage. Now what did you say your name was?" Temperance thought about giving a fake name, but since she was seeking authenticity in her life, she thought better of it. "My name is "Temperance Brennan" said Tempe shyly. "Temperance Brennan the author?" Tempe blushed and nodded. "I love your novels. Come along, I have to introduce you to Rabbi Sue. Rabbi Sue?" Alma called, marching into the Rabbi's office. "This is the famous author Temperance Brennan who just walked into the office." "Aren't you also a scientist? Rabbi Sue asked. "Yes, I'm a forensic anthropologist." Somehow Rabbi Sue did not think that Dr. Temperance Brennan had walked into Beit Tikvah for the purpose of being congratulated on her celebrity. So she invited Temperance into her office for a private conversation. "What do you have on your mind?" asked the rabbi. "Well, started Tempe." I'm not completely sure; I had almost forgotten that my mother was Jewish, but my father recently reminded me. I grew up with no religion; I am an atheist, but suddenly I want to know more about being Jewish. I've read books of course, but I have learned from anthropology that empirical experience is vital to knowledge. I may be drawn to synagogue because I am pregnant, and I know that brings up tribal loyalties in primates."4 "Well tell me a bit about yourself" said the rabbi. What was your early life like? And what sort of relationship do you have with the father of your child?" So Temperance talked. She found it helpful to summarize her past (and present) to such a good listener. Unlike Sweets, Rabbi Sue had no agenda. As expected, Rabbi Sue was not the least bit dismayed by Tempe's lack of faith in a personal God. She promptly invited Temperance, and her family, to a Congregational Seder on the second night of Passover, and asked her to lecture, during the holiday, on her professional contributions to freedom by bringing the perpetrators of genocide (and other lesser crimes) to justice.

Temperance was sufficiently impressed to mention the visit to Booth, and to suggest that they visit Beit Tikvah together on the following Friday night. Tempe was surprised to find that some of the ritual was familiar and that she loved the music. Although Booth did not personally find the service meaningful, he liked the people, and he was happy that Temperance had potentially found a faith community. Every once in a while, Booth would accompany Bones to synagogue or vice-versa. But mostly, each participated separately in his/her own faith community. Like most liberal Jews, Tempe was not a particular faithful synagogue attendee.

Tempe started to become involved in select synagogue activities. She enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of Talmud study (which Booth found wonderfully soporific), and lent her lovely voice to the synagogue choir. Of course, between her job and her family, she had limited time to devote to these activities, but her steep learning curve allowed her available time to be extremely productive.

As a fund-raiser. Dr. Brennan offered to have a book signing at the synagogue and donate all the revenue generated to the synagogue (shul).

She became sufficiently attached to Judaism that she wanted to raise her child as a Jew. Knowing that Booth would want to raise his children Catholic, she and Booth came to the following compromise: since Judaism is (at least traditionally) passed through the female line, any female children would be raised Jewish, and any male children Catholic. So Christine had a baby-naming rather than a christening.

*Jewish synagogues, particularly Reform ones, are often called "Temples". "Shul" (Yiddish for "school", I believe) is another term used for synagogue.

1"Liberal" Judaism in the US corresponds to the Reform, Jewish Renewal or Reconstructionist movements, with possibly some in the Conservative movement. Traditional Jews are (by my definition) some Conservative and all Orthodox Jews.

2I actually don't think Brennan was pregnant during Passover, but I'm finessing that.

3There actually is a synagogue called Beit Tikvah in Baltimore ( and probably other synagogues called Beit Tikvah in other places as well. As far as I know, there is no Beit Tikvah in Washington DC. I just made it up.

4I have no idea whether this is true or not, but it sounds good.


	2. Chapter 2: Rabbi Sue and Father Mitch

Chapter 2: Rabbi Sue and Father Mitch

**Father Mitch is NOT mine. He belongs to gawilliams who has kindly given me permission to borrow him. Rabbi Sue and her family are mine, but no other characters are in this story belong to me.**

At the next meeting of local clergy, both Rabbi Sue and her friend, Father Mitch arrived early. Over a cup of coffee, the rabbi said to the priest. "hey Mitch, guess who walked into my synagogue on Tuesday?" "I don't know" said Mitch. "Jesus? The prophet Elijah? Elie Wiesel"?1 "You blew your three guesses Mitch. It was Dr. Temperance Brennan herself. The author."

"I know her!" exclaimed Mitch. She's dating a parishioner of mine. "Oh ho, said Sue. She told me about him. It's too bad that repeating what about congregants have told us is unethical. "I like her" said Mitch. She's feisty as all get out, and very good for Seely. She also is sharp as a tack; she gave me a run for my money when we debated part of the Summa Theologia, and I wrote my doctorate on that. Come to think about it, I bet she would be dynamite at Talmud study." "Well she is a world-renown anthropologist. I would expect her to be sharp. What is her boyfriend like?" "Well," said Mitch," he happens to be a friend of mine, good man, the best, actually. but he's way too hard on himself. I hope she can get him to lighten up some." "I don't know, said Sue", she seems pretty intense herself. That's probably part of the attraction, and perhaps part of the drive that makes those two so good at solving crime. He's FBI and they are work partners as well as romantic partners. They must drive each other crazy sometimes. I remember some quote from Shakespeare about the course of true love never running smooth or something like that. Bet it applies to them." "You'd better believe it Sue. So Sue, how are Rivkah and the kids?" asked Mitch changing the subject.

"Rivkah is doing a good business officiating freelance at weddings, baby-namings, and funerals. She would like her own congregation, but the cantorial2 market seems pretty saturated around here. She doesn't mind too much. It gives her more time with the kids. I guess it's her turn to be the housewife. Also, as you know, being clergy is a stressful job. It's enough to have me running around like a crazy person when some congregant decides to take a bite out of my butt without her having to go through that as well. My Rivkah has kind of a thin skin-not really suited to congregational work. Our older daughter, Rachel, takes after her that way." "Umm" said Father Mitch. He knew Sue's family well. "Not" Sue continued, that the people at Beit Tikvah are particularly vicious. In fact, overall, they're pretty nice. You and I both know some horror stories about how some congregations have treated their clergy."

Mitch agreed but said "fortunately, there are usually some parishioners that make our jobs especially worthwhile. For instance, I am quite proud of Seely. I can't give you all of the details because of pastoral confidentiality, but he has overcome enormous spiritual roadblocks, and made tremendous progress. And your Dr. Brennan has been a big part of that." Sue said "I get the sense that Booth has done the same for Temperance. You know, we rabbis aren't supposed to like it when Jews date outside the faith." "And we priests are supposed to be happy when Catholics hang out with Atheist Jews?" asked Father Mitch with a raised eyebrow. "I think God was the matchmaker for these two" said Rabbi Sue. I don't think the Divine Presence would appreciate our mucking with Her handiwork."

1Holocaust Survivor and Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1986

2Cantors (in the Jewish religion) specialize in music but are often full clergy. For some reason, rabbis are "ordained", but cantors who are full clergy are considered "invested" rather than "ordained".


	3. Chapter 3: Temp and the Tiger

**Chapter 3: Temperance's Tiger**

**This takes place a year and several months after the last chapter, after the finale for season 8. In my previous (and first) fanfic, "Sweets Earns His Nickel", Dr. Sweets suggests that Dr. Brennan try meditation to heal from the trauma of a particularly invasive assault by Christopher Pelant.**

Temperance decided to try one more synagogue activity in May 2013. The synagogue had a Jewish meditation session that met at 8:30 on Saturday mornings, before the regular religious service for the Sabbath morning. On her way to synagogue, Temperance was conflicted. "This has to be a waste of time. Booth is right that this is rubbish." However, consistent with her attempts to be more open-minded, she dutifully sat down with the other meditators.

The meditation leader said "just notice any thoughts that emerge and try to gently detach from them". We're going to start chanting "shalom" which of course contains the syllable "om" so often used in meditative chant. Shalom has several meanings in Hebrew (hello, goodbye, peace, wholeness), and you can choose to concentrate on whichever one works for you."

"Peace?" thought Tempe. "Chanting about peace is not going to bring peace into my life. Wholeness? That reminds me of the "grand unified theory". But since Temperance does have great mental discipline, she was able to quiet these voices and have the following vision.

Temperance envisioned a snowy peak, incredibly beautiful but just as treacherous, possibly in the Himalayan mountains. She was climbing, climbing, climbing, for what seemed like forever. She was getting colder, tireder, more hungry, and feeling more and more alone. As she climbed, the mist obscured the beauty and made her fearful of losing her way. She wanted to stop and rest, but she was afraid that she would die if she did so.

Suddenly a rare, beautiful, Siberian tiger walked up to Temperance. The tiger opened her mouth and said: "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy" (Psalm 126:5). The tiger then retracted her claws, snuggled Temperance in her warmth, and fed Temperance.

Just at that moment, the bell signaling the end of meditation chimed, and Temperance was roused from her meditative state. And then, for the first time in weeks, Tempe felt that everything just might turn out all right.

"**Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy", the verse of psalm I quoted, is also part of a song written by Debbie Friedman which became an anthem to many of her students after her untimely death at the beginning of 2011. You might not have heard of her unless you are involved in non-Orthodox Jewish liturgical music, although some of her music did cross over into the non-Jewish world as well as the Orthodox Jewish world. She was very famous in Jewish liturgical circles however, mentor to thousands, an inspiration to millions through her musical compositions and CDs, her concerts, and the changes she brought to non-Orthodox Jewish music.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Co-Officiants in the Wedd

**Chapter 4, The Co-Officiants in the Wedding**

**I had originally written a chapter in which Booth returns Brennan's proposal (with a ring, fancy dinner at Gordon Gordon's, etc.). However, since it would probably be 8000****th**** Booth-Bones proposal scene in fanfiction, I decided to forgo it. (I also am ill-equipped to describe any of Angela's possible wedding preparations.) So now, Pelant is dead, and Brennan and Booth are really and truly engaged. **

Father Mitch was glad to see Seely come into his office, looking happier than he had in a long time. "Seely, you look great man! Something must have happened."

Booth replied "well for one thing, we managed to kill someone who has been making our lives hell for quite a while now. I'm not happy about our killing someone, but this guy is someone so cunningly evil that even imprisonment didn't keep him from murdering people and doing his best to destroy our lives. I really don't want to talk about what he did, but it's a relief that he can't do it anymore.

"Wow", said Mitch, I know you've dealt with some mean hombres in your time at the FBI, but he sounds like the worst." While I can't countenance vengeance, there are times violence is justified if that's the only way to remove peril. You said "for one thing". Is there something else?"

"You bet your life there is" said Booth. "Bones has made me the happiest man in the world by agreeing to marry me."

"Temperance agreed to marry you?" asked Mitch. "I thought marriage was against her religion, no pun intended.

"Well" said Booth, she finally realized that life is short. Actually, she proposed to me, as I predicted she would, a while ago. Pelant, in his twisted, insidious way, put the kibosh on that". Father Mitch sat there with his mouth open. Booth said "you don't want to know how, but now that he's dead, Bones and I can really get married."

"Well congratulations man!" Mitch enthused, slapping Seely on the back. "Temperance is finally making an honest man out of you. This deserves a drink! " And Mitch took, from his desk, a bottle of his best emergency scotch, 2 glasses, and poured 1 finger for each of them.

Booth cleared his throat and continued. "I have a favor to ask of you, and I'm not sure you can oblige. I understand if you can't."

Mitch said "just spit it out Booth."

Booth continued "would you be willing to co-officiate at our wedding with Rabbi Sue"? You know that we are raising Christine as a Jew and any future boys as Catholics."

"I would be delighted to, but you have to ask Rabbi Sue. Not all rabbis (or all priests) are willing to officiate at interfaith weddings, much less co-officiate with clergy of other faiths. Without telling tales out of school, however, I think she looks as favorably on your relationship with Temperance as I do. I believe her words were something like "God was their matchmaker, and I don't think She would like us mucking with Her handiwork."

"That sounds like Rabbi Sue" chuckled Booth.

"Bring Temperance with you next time, and we'll discuss the particulars. Eventually, the four of us should get together to discuss liturgical matters."

Meanwhile in Rabbi Sue's office:

"I don't think I've ever seen you look so happy!" exclaimed Rabbi Sue when Temperance came into her office.

"I haven't ever felt this certain that I would marry Booth" replied Brennan. Rabbi Sue was conscious of a desire to squeal (like Angela, had she but known), but professional training overrode her instincts. She settled for giving Brennan a warm hug. "Congratulations Temperance. He seems like a good man, and you two seem very much in love."

Temperance continued "I know that most rabbis will not officiate at interfaith weddings much less co-officiate with other clergy, but we were wondering if you would actually be willing co-officiate at our wedding with Father Mitch. We are raising Christine and any future girls Jewish and any boys that are born will be raised Catholic."

Rabbi Sue said " I suppose that has a certain logic to it. I generally don't officiate at weddings unless the children are going to be raised Jewish, but I do make exceptions on a case-by-case basis, and this sounds like a very appropriate exception. Fortunately, my synagogue trusts me enough to leave the exceptions up to my discretion. And I would be delighted to officiate with Father Mitch who, by the way, is one of my oldest friends. Next time, bring in Booth, and then when we are a bit farther along, the four of us should meet. What date are you planning on getting married?"

"We plan to get married after sundown on August 24 in the Jeffersonian gardens. Are you free that date?"

Rabbi Sue took a moment to look at her planner. "Yes, I believe August 24 works for me. Now I know that you two have been living together for a while and have a daughter. I was just wondering if you two had ever had any couples' counseling."

"The FBI made us go to a psychologist for partners' counseling after Booth had to arrest my dad (a story for another time). When we started a relationship, the FBI made continued counseling a condition of our continuing to work together."

"Works for me" said Rabbi Sue.


	5. Chapter 5: Booth and Brennan's wedding

**I am not going to go through the entire wedding ceremony that these two would presumably have. I know Booth would probably want a mass, and I just don't feel like writing about it. If I were officiating at an interfaith wedding, I would probably explain the marriage canopy (called the chuppah). The groom would probably smash the glass, and I'd explain that too. You may want to suspend my poetic license after this.**

Temperance walked down the aisle with her father and her brother; she looked more beautiful than ever. After kissing both Max and Russ, she made a beeline for Booth who was standing under the traditional Jewish wedding canopy. Each of the two partners was torn between savoring every moment of their wedding and drowning in each others' eyes.

Father Mitch said "this wedding has been a long time coming. Temperance and Seely complete each other in a rare and beautiful way. I have known Seely a long time as a friend, as a faithful Catholic, and, more generally, as a man of deep conscience. He is a war hero, a devoted father, and a defender of the public good, in partnership with his bride, Temperance. My acquaintance with Temperance is of more recent date, but her character is well-known to me by the way she cares for Seely. Christine, and Parker, by the seriousness with which she takes her job, by her reputation as the world's foremost forensic anthropologist, and by her scintillating intellect that makes our theological debates so much fun." The congregation giggled at that.

Rabbi Sue said "you have both worked hard to share yourselves. Please keep those lines of communication open. Don't let fear or shame cause you to hide your depths from each other. Your love is strong; deep honesty will keep it that way. Now Temperance and Seely will exchange vows.

Temperance said to Seely "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." Seely, you have taught me to believe that love is real, and your love for me has transformed my life and enriched it a thousand-fold. I promise to spend the rest of my life caring for you as I do myself, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, as long as we both shall live."

Seely said to Temperance "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." Temperance, you have taught me the true meaning of love. You have taken me places I never thought I would be. You have been with me in the darkest places of my soul and cared for me more than I have cared for myself. I promise to love you all the days of our lives, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, as long as we both shall live."

Rabbi Mitch said: and now Seely and Temperance will read to each other selections from Song of Songs.

Temperance: My love is like a gazelle, leaping over mountains, skipping over hills. My beloved called and said to me:

Seely: Rise my fair one and come away.

Temperance: For behold the winter is passed.

Seely: The time of singing is here. The voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

Temperance: Oh beloved, let me see your form, let me hear your voice.

Seely: For your form is beautiful, and your voice is lovely.

Father Mitch said "I exalt You God, because you have delivered me; you gave my enemies no joy on my account...For God is angry for a moment, but shows favor for a lifetime. Though one goes to bed in weeping, one awakes in song..You have changed my mourning into dancing. You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy." (selections from **psalm 30, translation from the Reconstructionist prayer book).**

Rabbi Sue said: Blessed are You God, Source of the universe, who has created each of these two people, their delight and their happiness, their rejoicing and singing and dancing and festivity, love and friendship, peace and pleasure. Oh God, may the voices of this celebration be heard in the streets of our cities and the hills of our countryside. May the words of this couple go out with gladness from their wedding canopy, and may the music of their friends and guests surround them. Blessed are You God, who brings joy to the hearts of this couple."**(From the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony)**

"And now by the power vested in me by the Catholic church and the city of Washington, DC" said Father Mitch

"And by the power vested in me by the Jewish people and the city of Washington DC" said Rabbi Sue

"We now pronounce you husband and wife!" exclaimed Sue and Mitch in unison. "What God has joined, let humans not tear asunder!"


End file.
